Today ceramic objects are taken for granted, including earthenware, brick or even fine porcelain because of their omnipresence. We eat from plates, drink from cups and mugs and decorate our dwellings with vases filled with flowers. The ceramic industry is one of the oldest that goes back thousands of years, perhaps because clay was plentiful, the process basic and people figured out how to make useful and decorative things with it.  One of the earliest pieces ever created using fired clay dates back to the late Paleolithic period 28,000 BC.  A female statue of a nude woman, known as the Venus of Dolní V?stonice, was discovered in the Paleolithic site Dolní V?stonice in the Moravian area south of Brno in the Czech Republic.  Also found at this same site in a horseshoe shaped kiln were hundreds of clay figurines representing Ice Age animals ––bear, lion, fox, horse and owl along with over 2000 balls of burnt clay.

In China pot fragments dating back to 18,000-17,000 BCE have been found. Historians believe that China’s use of pottery successively spread to Japan and the Russian Far East region where archeologists have recovered shards of ceramic artifacts dating to 14,000 BCE.  However, progress toward porcelain making evolved very slowly in China since its production is far more challenging than that for earthenware or stoneware. Porcelain is the most prestigious kind of pottery because of its delicacy, strength, and radiant translucent, white color and was finally produced about 2,000 to 1,200 years ago in China. 

Hillwood Museum’s Associate curator of 18^th century French and West European fine and decorative arts, Dr. Rebecca Tilles organized the exhibition The Luxury of Clay: Porcelain Past and Present.  She expressed, “Its story is one of mystery and intrigue, and we are excited to use the beautiful pieces within Hillwood’s collection to trace its origins and eventual expansion westward. From functional pieces and decorative objects to fine art and tableware, porcelain has been continually reinvented and played an important role in history.”

The exhibit includes more than 140 items from 18th-century Meissen and Du Paquier, KPM, the Imperial Porcelain Factory, Limoges porcelain and works from the 21^st century.  It also has select loans from The Frick Collection and other?private collections?in New York and Washington along with pieces by contemporary artists who have reimagined this resilient art form. Some pieces on loan?from the collections of Hans?Syz?and Alfred Duane Pell conserved at the National Museum of American History in Washington,?D.C. have not been exhibited?since the 1960s.

Marjorie Merriweather Post had a passion for porcelain, often referred to as “white gold,” because to its natural color and high value.  She valued beautiful things and surrounded herself with exquisitely crafted objects and delightful design having historic associations. This carefully selected display demonstrates the vast range of Post’s porcelain collection.  The unique exhibition is presented in the Dacha Gallery that affords visitors an immersive experience because of its intimate space.  It discloses a world of affluence and offers a voyage through the creation of hard-paste porcelain. Arranged chronologically the objects reveal the evolution of this material from China, to Europe and Russia and up with today’s creations by contemporary artists.  The exhibit, including vases, teapots, figurines, dish services, jewel boxes and other objects, demonstrates how this material in Europe shaped the luxury market and how porcelain became the objet d’art of the Royals and Aristocratic families.  Although some pieces were made for explicit functional uses, the objects are artistic items in their own right.

The display case titled “Dowry Gifts For the Russian Court” provides a sampling of porcelain wedding and dowry gifts from the 18^th century. The delicate oval dish, wine glass cooler, oval basket and figurine were made by the Imperial Porcelain Factory for the Grand Duchesses Maria and Catherine, daughters of Emperor Paul I of Russia (r.1796-18010.)  The Kings of Prussia between 1745 and 1780 also commissioned diplomatic gifts. Finely crafted porcelain was given to celebrate military victories, diplomatic alliances as well as engagements and weddings. Presented in the same cabinet one sees the Berlin Service, the St. Andrew Service and the Grand Duke Paul Petrovich Service. Each set of china is elegantly decorated with crests and portraits, floral designs and organic impressions of a leaf. These distinctive service sets evoke a resemblance to official White House china used for State dinners and special events.

At the entrance to the exhibition a large colorful Chinese vase from Jingdezhen, China, 1750-1770 is placed next to the Dutch artist Bouke de Vries piece “Memory Vessel, 2015.” It is an intriguing juxtaposition centering on value and condition. The former is in pristine condition while Vries piece is a cracked bowl with its shards enclosed inside.  Despite its beauty, nonetheless it is worthless because of its fragmented condition.  This artist is interested in deconstructing ceramics instead of celebrating priceless objects.  Similarly the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei produced a series of work based on the theme of transformation and destruction.  He collected ancient vessels solely for the purpose of converting them into contemporary art pieces.  “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn”, is photographic artwork created by Ai Weiwei in 1995 that portrays him destroying a 2000-year-old ceremonial urn that shocked many!

For centuries the formula for making hard-paste porcelain remained a mystery in Europe.  Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, a German mathematician/chemist, began experiments in 1680s nonetheless it was only shortly after his death in October 1708 that Johann Friedrich Böttger, his assistant and alchemist, was able to successfully perfect the method in Europe.  This German discovery of the porcelain technique was probably the most exemplary technical achievement of Baroque period.   Fine porcelain was then produced in the royal factory at Meissen, near Dresden, in 1710 and Meissen china became the first European hard-paste porcelain.  It remained the foremost European porcelain factory and the frontrunner of artistic novelty until the French Sèvres factory surpassed them with new styles in the 1760s.  Despite this competition Meissen remains a prominent factory today.  Exquisite examples of its diverse production are showcased by an assortment of mythological and allegorical figures along with teapots, dishes, vases and Sake bottles in ingenious colors, patterns and designs. The diversity of this grouping is especially alluring!

“At first the expansive ‘table-scape’, appears to be an intricate arrangement of figures sharing a meal, however, upon close scrutiny we are witness to a bacchanal, a divine orgy of overt drinking, sex and madness.” 

By the 19^th century ceramic Artisans were able to produce large-scale mounted vases because of the sturdiness of hard-paste porcelain.  Two pairs of monumental gold trimmed vases command an arresting presence in the central gallery space.  The tall vases in the background depict paintings of Dutch church interiors by the Russian artist V. Shchetinin who worked at the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg in the 1830s and a pair of identical urn-shaped urns in the foreground portrays dramatic landscapes painted in 1860s by N. Krasovsky who was also working at the IPF.

Jumping to the contemporary era, Roberto Lugo in his ceramics forms mixes hip-hop, history and politics along with his cultural background. He pays homage to President Barack Obama in a unique capped vessel “Obama and Me Vase”.  On one side of the vase there is an image of Obama and on the opposite is Lugo’s portrait.  A melding of references comprises the multifaceted surface of this form spanning Chinese blue and white porcelain and references of shapes and designs from different cultures.

The highlight of this exhibition is found in the dining and breakfast rooms of the main mansion house.  Hillwood’s French and Russian porcelain collection inspired Chris Antemann’s two-porcelain ‘surtouts de table’, entitled An Occasion to Gather: Dining in the French Parterre and A Stage for Dessert that is a far cry from Post’s personal collection of fine and decorative arts despite its exquisite craftsmanship.  In 17th and 18th century European aristocracy adorned their dessert tables with scenes meticulously created from sugar that sparkling weird fantasie known as surtout de table.  They depicted allegorical vignettes, mythological figures and architectural follies.  Although the original table pieces were made from sugar, that signaled the host’s wealth, later porcelain became the prime material.

Both of Antemann’s elaborate displays are impeccably constructed and render farcical humor amidst the lavish setting of Hillwood’s ornate rooms.  At first the expansive ‘table-scape’, appears to be an intricate arrangement of figures sharing a meal, however, upon close scrutiny we are witness to a bacchanal, a divine orgy of overt drinking, sex and madness.  Orgies were commonly depicted in ancient Greek (bacchanalia) and Roman (Dionysian Mysteries) art and throughout time such noted artists as Nicolas Poussin “Bacchanal of Putti,” 1626 and Pablo Picasso’s “Bacchanal,” 1944 have portrayed these decadent gatherings.  De Vries is also known for his lavish tableaus.”  As with Antemann’s art what first appears to be a gorgeous assemblage of figures is actually a fragmented absurd fantasy!

Including clay art by current artists was an astute decision by Rebecca Tilles. Contemporary artists are increasingly using ceramics in far-reaching ways to reshape the medium even though many have been inspired by antique work and its traditions.  New generations of artists is finding beauty in the mundane, celebrate strangeness and opts to recreate everyday objects.  Precious plates and objects held for the sake of status is not of importance to them.  In the exhibition “Clay Pop,” curated by Alia Williams in October 2021, at the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, the work of 37 younger artists demonstrate the extraordinary diversity of clay art today and how current culture is influencing this art. The addition of works by today’s artists places Marjorie Merriweather Post’s historical collection within the context of NOW and brings this exhibition to the moment instead of being merely a reflection on the past!

By Elaine A. King, Contributing Editor

The Luxury of Clay: Porcelain Past and Present

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Garden, Washington, DC

through 26^th June 2022